Undocumented students arrested in Arizona

San Antonio’s Benita Veliz is fighting deportation after being detained following a traffic stop. The star student and St. Mary’s University graduate has became an activist for the DREAM Act.

Four undocumented leaders of the student immigration movement have been arrested after staging a sit-in at Arizona Sen. John McCain’s office in Tuscon.

Lizbeth Mateo of Los Angeles, Tania Unzueta of Chicago, Mohammad Abdollahi of Ann Arbor and Yahaira Carrillo of Kansas City risk deportation for their action, which they hoped would catalyze a grass-roots mobilization to push Congress to pass the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act would give youth brought to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship based on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the military.

At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year.

“During the civil rights movement, African American students were arrested for sitting down at lunch counters. We’ve been detained for standing on a sidewalk,” said Unzueta, the 26-year-old co-founder of the Immigrant Youth Justice League in Chicago. “We can’t wait any longer for the DREAM Act to pass.”

The students are holding a national news conference this morning in front of McCain’s office.

San Antonio has its own nationally recognized DREAM Act activist, Benita Veliz. Detained by police after a traffic stop, Veliz is facing deportation to Mexico. Brought to the United States at age 8, Veliz graduated valedictorian of her class at Jefferson High School and from St. Mary’s University with honors.

Thrust into the spotlight, Veliz is now a national poster child and activist for the DREAM Act.